On September Morn, Neil Diamond began to push the borders of easy listening, concentrating more on immaculately polished studio craft than songcraft. Even though the songs are a little inconsistent, they have their moments -- "Dancing in the Street," "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," "Stagger Lee," and especially the title track -- where it all comes together and the music is enjoyable.
Until about an hour ago, I'd never seen any of the Neil Diamond version of "The Jazz Singer." But I was flipping through channels, and saw Sir Laurence Olivier hamming it up with the most outrageous Jewish accent, and I knew I had to watch some more. I made until Neil's character goes out to LA and sings "Love On The Rocks" in a recording studio. No, that isn't exactly true. I did stay through ...